PBN Health Care Heroes 2024
Health Care Educator: KYLE McINNIS
Providence College School of Nursing and Health Sciences dean
What led you to choose health care as your profession? Family influences and role modeling in the health care profession and education played an essential role in my early interests and career path, and set the foundation to strive toward compassionate, empathetic care.
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How have you helped boost the quality of or access to health care? With more than 30 years of experience in academia and research, I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to pioneer new strategies for promoting healthy lifestyles and disease prevention, such as the nationally acclaimed “Active Science” approach, which pioneered interactive gaming technology to teach concepts in science, technology, engineering and math, while promoting physical activity and healthy nutrition in underserved schoolchildren.
What is the biggest challenge you and your organization are facing this year? The school faces a critical challenge this year: A surge in demand for available entry in the nursing and health sciences programs, with more than 1,500 applications for just 100 available spots. This supply-demand imbalance is widespread across the nation, exacerbated by limitations in available faculty and clinical placement sites.
What more do you feel the state can do to help further support the health care sector in Rhode Island? Creative efforts are needed to incentivize students in nursing and the health professions to maintain residency in Rhode Island after college graduation. This includes more robust and creative efforts aimed at enhancing grants, scholarships and tuition repayment programs, as well as housing opportunities for graduating students with nursing and other health care degrees.
